Luke 13

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

For us. So we're going to be in Luke 13, verse 1. Um, Luke is a book that is written to a guy named Theophilus. It's eyewitness accounts that he carefully collected so that Theophilus' friend would have a certainty in his faith, right? And every single story that you're reading, these are eyewitness accounts of what went on. And at this point in Luke, in chapter 13, he is at a point now where he is making his way towards the cross. A few chapters earlier it said he has now set his face steadfast to go to his death, right? And this is what he's on his journey to. He's entering into his last days on earth. And the disciples are uncertain what's happening. Jesus at this moment's been speaking to a huge crowd full of Pharisees and other people that are curious about what's going on. And there's all kinds of things going on in this moment. And so we're going to try to unpack that a little bit. And I believe that's going to, man, help us some today. Before I do that, I'm going to address that I have a huge stain on my pants. And it's not because I don't care about washing clothes. It's because I was helping bring stuff in today. And man, it's just at the worst location. Listen, it wasn't an accident as you supposed. This is a food thing. So just great. Some of you guys, I see you with the eagle eye, the moms are like, man, wash that thing, boy. So, okay, grace on that. So we uh we're good now. We can relax. Our radar can be down. Pastor has a stain. We don't have to be pomping circumstance anymore, okay? So just settle down now. We can laugh. And also, if you're visiting, there's a moment that hits your heart. Listen, you can come back with an amen if you want to. It's okay. You're not going to get sent out. About this time, I'm going to read this entire passage. And uh we got through 17. It says one through seven. Just want to double check. We'll find out in a minute. About this time, Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the temple. Do you think, this is Jesus speaking, do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee? Jesus asked. Is that why they suffered? Not at all. And you will perish too unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the 18 people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No. And again I tell you that unless you repent, you will perish too. Jesus told this story. A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it. But he was always disappointed. Finally he said to his gardener, I've waited three years and there hasn't been a single fig. Cut it down. It's just taking up space in the garden. The gardener answered, Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. Another version says manure. Fancy. Verse 9, if we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down. One Sabbath day, as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She'd been bent double for 18 years and was unable to stand up straight. And when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness. Then he touched her and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God. But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. There are six days of the week for working, he said to the crowd. Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath. But the Lord replied, You hypocrites, each one of you works on the Sabbath day. Don't you untie your ox and your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for 18 years. Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath? This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoice at the wonderful things he did. I want to start back at the beginning. It's a lot to unpack, a lot to take in, and I have but a few minutes to do it. 23 minutes. I got 23 minutes on the clock. Here we go. You ready? And side note, by the way, no barbecue sauce in the bounce house today. I just I figured I guess that's we don't want to pay extra. Okay, no barbecue sauce. Sorry, I'm a pastor with rabbit trails. Here we go. At this time, Jesus was informed. So imagine a crowd of people, somebody moving through the crowd, and they tell him, hey, listen, Pilate, Pontius Pilate, Pilate has just had worshipers at the temple as they were offering sacrifices. He had them killed in their blood, as it spilt, it mixed with the blood of the sacrifices. This will go in line with what you'll read in history in antiquity about Pilate. Josephus writes about him. There are several indications that he was just ruthless. And this is no different. The tricky thing is here, and the weird thing is here, is that people weren't so stressed about what Pilate did. Jesus, he does something interesting. Verse 2, it says, Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee? Now, isn't it weird that he's addressing like the people that got killed and not the guy who did the killing? Anybody in the room think that's a little bit weird? And the reason why is because in that culture, in that time, rabbis in the first century had kind of uh uh uh made this claim, this thought, this idea that if you had secret sin in your life or you encountered like a catastrophe or violence like this and died, it was God's judgment against the sin that was in your life. Right? So everybody that hears of these people's death, they're not outraged at Pilate. They're wondering, huh, I wonder what those people did wrong to incur that punishment from God. Now listen, a religious spirit always wants to try to find a way to put blame on something. What do I mean by religious spirit? So you can go to a church and you can have a relationship with Jesus, but if you don't understand grace and mercy and you make your life about how good you can be and how good you can do, you're gonna set up a system where you have to be better than everybody else to be more godly. But what a Christian is truly is somebody who submitted their life to Jesus, saying, I don't have it figured out, I don't have it all together. Jesus was perfect because I can't be. I'm taking his payment for my life, and I am made right with God under what he's done for me, not under what I can do for myself. And I believe that it's crazy that in this moment Jesus is having to address people. Listen, the church in this moment, if we could say the church, in this moment, there should be a moment where you go to minister to the family that's grieving, not blaming the people that died. What religion does is it turns the victims into the violators rather than bringing healing. Come on, somebody. Like, tell me that you haven't had a time in life where you've known somebody that they're off put by the church because a place where they should get hope, they just get judgment. A place where they should come for healing, they have to hold their wounds on the inside for fear that they're gonna get judged about who they are or what they've done. Listen, I'm telling you right now, if it my life is far from perfect. And I am desperate for the love and the grace of Jesus. And I'm so glad. Listen, there's there's an idea that he's confronting outright called retributive or retributive theology. Hard words to say when you're excited about turkey in a few minutes. I'm not gonna lie to you. Seeing them made some collard greens. I've been looking forward to them all week long. If you don't leave me some, I'll still forgive you because Jesus says so. But okay, we'll have more out there. God is good. What were we talking about? Retributive, retributive theology. What this means is there's payback coming for what you've done bad in your life. That's terrible theology. It's terrible theology. Here's why. Because the full wrath of heaven was poured out on Jesus at the cross. So you can have a bad day and don't have to be afraid that God's just sitting up there waiting to smack you down. Just waiting to say, man, that was stupid. Boom, you're done. Right? Through whatever means he wants to. Because Jesus, he switches gears. He talks about the Galileans, and then he talks about people in Jerusalem because he talks about the Tower of Siloam. There was this tower that was being built. 18 people die from it collapsing. And Jesus mentions here, it feels weird because he keeps going back to and he says, Is this what they is this why they suffered because they were sinners? Verse 3, not at all, and you will perish too. What is he saying? If we go to the next screen, can we go to the next screen? And what about the 18 people who died in the Tower of Siloam and fell on them? Were they worse sinners? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, I tell you again, unless you repent, you will perish too. He's not saying that, listen, in this life, there's going to be an act that ends it because he's declaring you're done for because of what you've done wrong. What he's saying is, listen, death is going to come at some point for everybody. It could be by the sword, it could be by catastrophe, it could be by old age. There can be so many reasons and so many times of life that death can occur. And what he's declaring is it's going to come for everybody at some point. So you need to be ready for when it does come and be ready by having right relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son. And there's only one way that happens. You're like, Joey, that seems very exclusive claim that it's only Christianity, that that's the only way. Christianity has to be the most inclusive of every single religion that there is, because all are welcome. None are rejected. All have fallen short and can be made right with God. Right? And so listen, and there's nobody better. I don't at any point in my life get to find my godliness by pressing you down and looking at your weakness. Because what religion will do is it will point out all your flaws so that I can feel better about me because I don't have the same trip-ups that you have. I know that I'm weak in my life, but if I can find somebody who has a different weakness than me, then I can feel better about me. And that's how church becomes a place where it should be hope and you end up getting poisoned. It should be hope and you end up wanting to hold it at arm's length saying, I don't want to have anything to do with that. In fact, could I say this? I think there's a lot of things about church and Christians that people hate that Jesus hates as well. Okay, I just make sure we're all in the same place. Y'all not thinking about the collards already, are you? So, like, listen, I want to tell you right now, you're like, man, that's a strong word. Jesus gets in the face of everybody here, right? Can we can we flip to the next one? Next page. Jesus told a story of a man who planted a fig tree. What's going on here? Like this this imagery of a fig tree being in a garden. There's a fig tree that's planted in this vineyard as was common in the day, and it wasn't producing figs. And so the imagery here is the father, the owner of the garden, comes to the gardener, Jesus, right? And the idea, the context is, man, this tree isn't producing any fruit. We need to cut it down. And the gardener's like, no, just give me more time. So that I can minister to it, that I can pour into it. Give me more time so that there can be what? Redemption. So that there can be the fruit of redemption through being made right with God. Is this being clear? Am I making this clear? Am I talking too rough? It's a moment where we say, okay, man, the fruit of my life and the fruit in this garden from this fig tree is when I say yes to Jesus. I said, man, I've just lost. I've just I missed it a lot. On the way to church this morning, I snapped at my wife. Those of you who know my wife, you're like, dang, Joey, you better. You might want to bring her her plate first. I was rushing and everything, trying to go on. I'm trying to do God things. It doesn't give me the right. Listen, trying to come to church and get things ready doesn't give me the right to be snapping at my family. If my ministry with my family's failed, my ministry's failed. It's about three minutes down the road. I'm like, dude, I'm in my head. I'm like, I'm about to go preach, and I just, I'm like, and a few hours into the day, and I messed up already. Honey, I'm so sorry I snapped at you. And she gave me the nod of forgiveness, which I believe that's what it was in my heart. The nod of forgiveness. It spoke so many, she didn't have to say words because the nod spoke so many words. And I man, I just I just get it wrong. And I'm desperate and I'm grateful that he doesn't give up on me. And this parable is like a sign of like Jesus is not giving up. He's not gonna give up on you, but you need to know this. Why he won't give up on you in this life, when you get to the end of this life, there will be judgment. Either there'll be the fruit of repentance or there won't be. Like you can't, like, if if everybody's gonna get into heaven, then why was the cross necessary? And historians speak to like, man, the validity that Jesus was a real person that existed, his death actually happened. This is not me making stuff. If you want to spend time, you can go to universities and historians of this uh of this time period, and they're like, man, Jesus was for sure a human being. Now, what you want to do with that when you read scripture, and we've already talked early on in Luke about the historical accuracy of Luke. So let's go to the next screen then. One more, sorry. So we're we're shifting gears here. One Sabbath day, as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. Now, this woman was at a place where she should be getting care, right? She should be getting love, she should be getting minister to. He saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for 18 years and was unable to stand up straight. And when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, Dear woman, you uh you are healed of your sickness. In that moment, there had to be a deliverance happen, right? Because it was the evil spirit that was that was harming her, overpowering her, and there's deliverance that happens, and she does what? How she praised God. I want to say two things really quickly. One is we're in the season of Thanksgiving. There's so much that in my life and in our lives, if you'll take a minute that you can find some man, I need to be thankful for that. Because gratitude shifts things, shifts the atmosphere. And this woman, listen, sometimes you forget how what it's been like to have been bent over for that long. Then when you get to stand up straight and there's freedom. And I just want to say, man, there's a thankfulness we can have in our heart about who Jesus is, who he shows himself to be. And this is what you need to know. If you haven't seen the healing yet, it doesn't mean that it won't come. Right? There's a prayer I prayed for my mom when she was on death's bed, and I was just praying like, Lord, if you're gonna heal her, I need her all the way healed. If not, take her into the healing that she has when she's in heaven, and there's no more confusion, and there's no more dementia, and there's no more dizziness, and there's no more any of this stuff. Right? But but this is what I know on the Sabbath day, as Jesus was in the synagogue, there was this lady, 18 years doubled over because of this, because of this evil spirit, and he heals her, and then what happens? The religious leaders in the synagogue get upset that Jesus has healed on the day of rest. And what does he say to them? Let's shift gears, let's keep going. But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant. Imagine, imagine the audacity to see somebody that's lived in pain for almost two decades. You see them free from the pain, and you're gonna say, you should have shown up on a different day. To say to Jesus, man, listen, and who were they coming after? There are six days of the week, he said to what? The crowd. He's not even talking to Jesus. He is condemning the people who were coming and being ministered to by Jesus on this day. He said to the crowd, Come on those days to be healed, not the Sabbath. Here's what religion will try to do. Religion will always try to blame somebody, but the gospel tries to serve somebody. And there's some of us in this room even now that you have been put off by the church. And I would say this: you maybe went to something, experienced something that had the label Christian, had the label church. You had a time around somebody with the label pastor, but they were operating outside of the heart of God, outside of what the gospel is. They've got caught up in their own self-righteousness, and you got sold a bill of goods, and when you tasted it, listen, anybody ever heard the statement, the proof is in the pudding. Right? Old statement comes from way back when. And the only way to taste whether this pudding was good is to see if it was good as you had to taste it, to know, is this rotten or is it good? Right? Because just in the in the olden days, you couldn't tell by the look, right? And so preservatives weren't there, right? So you they tasted, and what I would say is this there's some people that said, man, you went into a church or you talked to a pastor or you met with a Christian, and you're like, man, oh, this is what this must be. This is what Christianity must be. And what you experienced completely so turned your stomach that you're like, I don't want to have anything to do with that ever again. And I want to tell you this: Jesus came and he died, and he was setting strings straight here, and he's still setting things straight now because there's so many people that have been harmed and hurt and wounded by religion that he came to overcome every single spirit, even that of religion, and bring freedom to those who are bound, and freedom to those who are overwhelmed, and freedom to those who are oppressed. Is this making sense today? Like, listen, just roll with me just for a minute, if you will. Just take just one more minute and lock in with me. As I studied this, I felt I felt like um grieved in my heart. Because it's really easy. I'll say this if you're a follower of Jesus and you forget the grace of God, if you forget about the grace of God, you're gonna drift in religious legalism. What does that mean? So there's only one way to get to the Father, and that's through Jesus Christ the Son. The Bible says the way that you're saved is you believe with your heart and you confess with your mouth. It doesn't say you have to have everything intellectually figured out, it's a lot to process. Right? It's a lot to process. You don't have to have everything figured out, but that's the way that you come. And it's not through any of your own good works, it's because Jesus paid the price on the cross. So there's nothing I could do to earn salvation. So, so so here's what religious religious legalism looks like as I come to God through grace, but then after that moment, now I'm trying to earn his love by all the good things that I do. I'm trying to earn my godliness by trying to look more Christian, look more whatever. And it's the grace of God that sustains me in my life, not my good works. Now, listen, I treat people with respect. I love people, I minister to people because that's what Jesus does, and I'm following Jesus. I'm loving people from a place of being loved. I'm not loving people in a place trying to get love. I'm not trying to earn it because he's already given it. And sometimes it's really hard. Like if we rewind to the beginning of this passage, Ashley, would you come up for me? I told you this was gonna be quick. Thank you for nodding earlier. Oh man, uh Lord, just help me. Help me. Um you read the first part of this passage and you're like, Joy, Jesus is dealing with people that felt like there were sin in the lives of those who died. So that was God's judgment. But maybe you're in this room, you're like, man, why did God even let that happen? The first. Place. Right? Like, did anybody wrestle with? Nobody wrestle with, like, if they were good people, why did and if God's good, why did he why did he allow that tragedy to happen? Why did he allow those people just trying to go in and worship to be killed? Why did he allow the people just trying to work and build something for it to collapse on them to be killed? There's a lot going on in the world today. Would you agree with me? You look around the world and you're like, man, there's a lot going on. You're like, God, uh, some of this, I'm not quite sure where you're at. If I'm just gonna be, can you can we be honest in that? Like, listen, like, I don't, Lord, I'm not getting everything that's happening right now. It'd be it'd be in fact, it'd be incredible if you'd put a stop to a lot of it. And then when it doesn't happen, and you see, like, man, atrocities in this world, and you're trying to unpack, like, God, if you're good, I don't understand if you're good how this can happen. Can I just share with you the conclusion I've come to? And I think it's gonna encourage you. I have no idea. You'd like to be super encouraged by that. I don't I don't know why what the answer is of why evil things keep happening. But can I tell you, I know what the answer isn't? And it isn't that Jesus doesn't care. Because if he didn't, he wouldn't have come. He wouldn't have stepped out of heaven onto earth, put on a human suit. Listen, he fulfills in his life over 300 Old Testament prophecies. The odds of that, like, there's mathematicians trying to figure out what that number even looks like, the odds of one person fulfilling over 300. So he fulfills all of these prophecies. And he lives a perfect life, and then he's betrayed by somebody that he loves, and then he's taken and he's arrested. He's lied about because they can't find anything legitimate to take him out about. There's people that are scheming on him. He's beat within an inch of his life, but not just yet, because they want to crucify him. So they're whipping him with these whips that like tear into his skin, pull off his flesh. They're taking this crown of thorns and like just nailing it, just pushing it down onto his head, grinding it into his scalp. And then he goes to the cross. Listen, we understand that Roman crucifixion was a legitimate thing. And in fact, when Isaiah the prophet wrote about it, it wasn't even invented yet until hundreds of years later. He prophesied about something that didn't even exist, and then its existence comes, and Jesus is put on that cross as the Messiah said it would happen to him. And he dies a brutal death. And in fact, when they're coming back in crucifixion, they would come at the end of it and they would break your legs so you can no longer push yourself up to get a last gasp of air. The prophecy said that our Messiah, not a bone, would be broken in his body. He was beaten so severely, it was so brutal that he dies before a bone can be broken. I don't know why so many things happen. I don't know why the things happened to the guys that worshiping uh in in Galilee, in the temple, why they were killed, why that was allowed to happen. I don't know why the temple of Siloam. I don't know why when there's bombs blowing up in these countries and atrocities that we can't even speak. I don't know like why all that happens, but if that's bothering your heart, can I just help you with this aspect? While we can't figure all of that out, what we can know is that it's not because Jesus doesn't care. Because if he didn't care, he wouldn't have gone through all of that for you and for me. And as long as this life feels it sometimes, it's but a vapor in the wind, is what the Bible says. Right? In comparison to eternity, it's but a vapor. We're here for a moment and then we're gone. And eternity is what? It's eternity. And so he came and paid a price so that our eternity could be secured. And I just wonder this morning, is there anybody in this room that you're like, man, I I'm wrestling with so much in life, and there's so much distrust, and there's so much cynicism, and there's so much hopelessness. But I want to tell you, listen, while I was still getting it wrong, Jesus died for me before I could say yes to him. The Bible says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So I didn't have to get it right to get his love. He gave his love before I got it right. He loved me on a maybe. Does that make sense? He loved you enough to say, I'm gonna die on maybe you'll say yes. I'm gonna go to the cross on maybe you will repent. The maybe was worth it. The maybe was the joy set before him, that scripture says, that allowed him to endure the cross, despising its shame. Right? Like so. I don't know why these things happen in this world, but I do know that there's a father in heaven who loves you and he sent his son to die for you because he loves you and he wants to have a relationship for you with you. And even right now, the gardener is tending the garden, he's loving on you right now, and I'm just praying that there'll be a moment that maybe you can't comprehend intellectually, you don't have it all put together, but there's a stirring in your heart, and you're like, man, something's I want to know this love. Can I tell you something? Religion offers you shame, the gospel offers you freedom from it. Man, I there's been moments I felt so much shame in my life. And be able to come to the Father and say, Yeah, God, I just I got it wrong once again. I just ask you to forgive me. And to have that just as a shame. We're about to go sit at these tables and we're about to break bread and have awesome food and laugh and cut up and make jokes, and it's gonna be great. I'm gonna sneak into the bouncy house where nobody's looking, bounce around, like it's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be, it's gonna be good. You you want to know, every single one of you is welcome to seat at the table. You know what's not welcome at the seat of the table in the kingdom? Shame's not welcome. Guilt trips are not welcome. Legalism is not welcome. So may you feel freedom from that if that has exhausted you. And I just want to say, as a pastor, if there's been another leader in the church that's wounded you, I just want to say as a pastor, listen, I I if I can stand in that spot and say, I you deserved it better. And can I just be honest with you? I don't know that I'm always going to get it right. In fact, I can promise I won't. But if we could just love Jesus enough to give grace to one another, ask for forgiveness when we need to, and keep chasing him together, man. Praise God for what's to come for us. But I want to take a moment right now. Would you just close your eyes? Bow your head if you would. There's a moment where the Holy Spirit of God will just begin stirring our hearts, saying, man, there's a home that you didn't know about, and I'm calling you there right now. It's a spiritual home. If you're in this place right now, you're like, man, I just I mess up so much in life, but I don't want shame to rule my life. I don't want guilt to greet me in the morning. In the Bible, in fact, it says his mercies are new every morning. The mercies of God are new every morning. And you want to wake up to the mercies of God. Listen, if you're like, man, Joy, today's the day I want to get things right with God. I don't have it all figured out, but I sense in my heart, I sense in my heart that this is real. Here's all you have to do. You believe with your heart. Belief is a choice. You choose to believe, and then you confess with your mouth. So I'm gonna pray a prayer, but if that's you, I just want to be in agreement with you. Would you be bold? Would you be brave enough? Because everybody has to come the same way. And you're like, man, that's me. I just I just want to slip my hand up real quick and say, I want to pray and ask Jesus to be the Lord of my life. I just want to ask him to be my king. Listen, don't wipe knuckle it, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See the chance. Yeah. Some of you might be like, man, I just need to get things right with God. I knew him when I was younger, but I've been far from him for a while. And I just want to come home. It's a prodigal moment. If that's you, I just want to pray with you as well. Would you just slip your hand up and say, man, I want to honor him now. I've been far from him, but I want to honor him. Yeah. I see you, sis. Yeah, I see you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I see you, bro. Let's pray together. Would you just repeat this after me? Man, I just want to guide you through this simply. Jesus, you just say it out loud with me. Can we do it together, family? Everybody that's a Hope City family, just join in with these people that are stepping into this time. Jesus, I choose to believe that you are the Son of God and that you came to pay a price that I couldn't. I ask for your forgiveness for every time I've missed the mark. I ask that you would be my king, my savior, my Lord. Have all of my life. The pretty and the ugly. And I choose to receive your forgiveness and let go of my shame, my guilt, my regret. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. When you make a step like that, I encourage you, don't ever just keep it personal. Find somebody that you can go and talk to, that can walk with you in the relationship and help you. Say, man, what do these next steps look like? And uh man, we invite you, if you don't have a church home and you're looking, honored to have you here. And even if you're like, man, I don't know if this is the place all the time, but it's maybe it can be a stepping stone until you find the spot, man. We're honored with that. Because we're not here to hold you captive. We're here to steward you and to pour into your life and to love on you. And so we want to invite you into this journey as we follow Jesus, imperfectly, but with passion and love. We want to invite you into that. But man, before Adam comes up, I just want to pray a blessing over you before we go. And I want to pray a blessing over your week to come and this holiday season. Yeah? Lord, I thank you that these are your sons and daughters, and I pray your face shine upon them. Bless them in their coming and they're going. Be their front and their rear guard. Give them the mind of Christ and wisdom of God. Lord, I thank you, James 1 says, if we need wisdom, we can ask for it and that you give it abundantly and without reproach. So I pray for James 1 wisdom for our family. And Lord, I thank you that your hand be upon them in this season of thanksgiving. And as we step into this Christmas season, where we celebrate your arrival, Emmanuel, God, with us. We love you and we honor you and we bless you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Could you just give the Lord a praise real quick?